House of Marbles Marble Reward Jar

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If your child is involved in choosing the reward they are more likely going to want to reach their goal. Draw a logo with your child –Decide together what visually represents the behavior you’re targeting and create your own logo for it. Tape it to the jar.

It’s a reward born out of a moment of chaos, not planned ahead, and in some ways, it’s actually reinforcing the negative behavior (yelling) and not the positive behavior of listening. Another great resource like this to take a look at is this Food Reward Chat. What are reward charts? If your Marble Jar is shared among two or more children, try having the kids award each other the marbles (instead of having an adult notice the behavior and award the marble). It’s a fun way of building community and accountability, and having children encourage one another. I saw the way you cleaned up your toys without anyone asking. That was very ‘helpful’! You deserve a marble for being so ‘helpful’ today”. If you start taking them away often, you are going to lose the ‘power’ that this has because it is going to take them too long to get their goal.

Each time someone in the class does something you consider to be “marble worthy,” you’ll place a marble inside a clear jar. Clear is key because it allows your students to see the positive moments adding up. You’ll then be able to choose goal levels – maybe you want to set a line somewhere mid-way in the jar, and when the class hits that point, a reward will be given. Or maybe you want to wait until it’s full? That’s up to you. Outline expectations If they do this in the moment while you’re on the phone and listen properly, the candy works as a reward for the good behavior

This method allows children to be rewarded for their achievements while learning that making mistakes does not detract from the progress they’ve made. MORE POSITIVE PARENTING IDEAS YOU MIGHT LIKE: The most important thing about using a behavior marble jar to encourage your child’s initiative is to focus on rewarding those positive behaviors you want your child to repeat without using the jar as a form of punishment.

Dr. Kennedy-Moore is a fan of specific, verbal praise. “Children love to please their parents,” she says. “We want to make sure we are pleasable.”) Whether you want to use free things like verbal praise and high-fives, or let them “earn” their way to Disney World, there’s plenty of evidence that suggests reward systems can really work. OPTION: you could use chalkboard paint on your jar & draw on the fill line with chalk so that it is easily moveable as they get older. The marble jar isn’t about earning a specific amount of marbles before a reward can be received (unless you think a goal will motivate your child). It’s best to set a reward that can be earned daily and the quantity increased or decreased. You should sit down with your child and brainstorm marble jar reward ideas.

For example, say you’re on an important phone call for work and your toddler won’t stop yelling, grabbing at you, or playing too loudly. Again, it’s very important to use tangible rewards and treats properly and not as your primary means of teaching appropriate behavior!We have four kids and this works with ALL of them. Even their friends try to earn cotton balls to take home – haha! What is the goal of the reward system?

Offering rewards can sometimes lead to a very unattractive bargaining attitude with kids where they ask, ‘What do I get if I do this?”

In the marble jar reward system, you simply set up a glass jar and a bowl of marbles or other small trinkets. Sometimes I will use cotton balls as an incentive: “if you ____, you will earn an extra cotton ball today.” (Works great for this, but I don’t do this too often because I don’t want it to lose its real purpose.) FILL YOUR JAR->> DO SOMETHING SPECIAL WITH SOMEONE SPECIAL (Usually Mom or Dad, or even a sleepover at their grandparent’s house or cousin’s house). Instead, Kennedy-Moore offers a few reward alternative that parents should consider before resorting to handing out lollipops 24/7: